asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will indicate the nature of the discussions which he had with representatives of the British Government on Thursday, 27th April; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

19.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visit to London; and the outcome of his talks with Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Mr. Whitelaw.

20.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on his talks with Mr. Whitelaw and Sir Alec Douglas-Home in London.

21.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement concerning his visit to London on 27th April, 1972, during which he met the British Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

22.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent meetings with the British Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; at whose instigation the meetings were held; what matters were discussed; what arrangements were made for future meetings; and whether he invited British Ministers to come to Dublin for discussions and, if not, why.

With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 to 22 inclusive, together.

At the request of the Taoiseach, I went to London on Thursday, 27th April for talks with British Ministers in regard to recent developments in the North of Ireland. I met the Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, M.P., and Mr. William Whitelaw, M.P., Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Beyond confirming that I had useful discussions with both of them in regard to recent developments in the North of Ireland, it would be inappropriate for me to go into detail. The timing and place of future meetings have not yet been arranged.

Will the Taoiseach be making a dramatic announcement about this later in the week? Is this the dramatic announcement that will be made?

I think it is doing harm to the situation to suggest a dramatic announcement of that nature.

At least the Minister deserves credit for the brevity of his reply.

Would the Minister indicate whether the Minister concerned gave him any information about what further developments or moves are proposed by the British Government in relation to the North of Ireland?

The best way I can put it is that my task was to find out at this time, in so far as that is possible, what the thinking of the British Government is in relation to Northern Ireland. I wanted clarification of that. I think it would be harmful to go further than that.

Could we have some indication of the representations the Minister made about ending internment?

The Deputy by now must be quite clear that we think internment should be finished completely. May I say that this is a time which is critically serious and for the sake of saying something here, either in the form of a question or answer, we could do harm to our country and to people in the North of Ireland?

It is a pity the Government did not think of that earlier.

Will the Taoiseach be making an announcement?

Not about my business.

Of course, the statement will be made outside the House.

The Deputy is having a ball, is he not? There will not be a dramatic announcement. There is a critical situation.

There is no truth in the rumour, then?